honorable mention
Benoit Fournier brazil
title
Water memories
“Water memories” is an on-going photography project that I started in 2010 and that has journeyed throughout many regions in Brazil, the leader of the 21st century in water resources. My visual account does not follow a geographical order; it is rather a journey through sensory memories, arranged according to the liquid texture.
Our relationship with water is explored in its most intimate form, as the source of life, the primordial resource which connects all human beings. The photos are taken in direct contact with the liquid element, in an intuitive form. Water, the dream matter, produces sensory experiences, creating an imaginary universe, in which we are able to lose ourselves in our own daydreams.
Within the plane of the black and white photos you are able to experiment with the quest in which everything becomes both subject and object, the opaque light that deforms and the temperature that shelters or stiffens. In the post-modernity of liquid talks we are able to understand that the non-centrality is the expression. The swinging, the daydream of freedom are aqueous. We momentarily observe the world, then, return to the sensations of the formless body.
In 2014 he launched his first book of photography, "A City of Bandeira" (published by Batel), which expresses the appreciation that 'Cariocas' have for Rio's nature. The pictures are accompanied by passages from one of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language - Manuel Bandeira.
In 2013 he won the Prix Photo Web, 1st place, a competition promoted by the Aliança Francesa. He has participated in individual exhibitions such as FotoRio in 2009, and collectives at the Tiradentes Festival in 2013 and shows at the Ateliê da Imagem (Rio de Janeiro).
He took part in art workshops held at the Parque Laje School of Visual Arts (Rio de Janeiro), and is now taking part in a study on the visual artist Marcos Bonisson.
back to gallery
entry description
Brief description/“Water memories” is an on-going photography project that I started in 2010 and that has journeyed throughout many regions in Brazil, the leader of the 21st century in water resources. My visual account does not follow a geographical order; it is rather a journey through sensory memories, arranged according to the liquid texture.
Our relationship with water is explored in its most intimate form, as the source of life, the primordial resource which connects all human beings. The photos are taken in direct contact with the liquid element, in an intuitive form. Water, the dream matter, produces sensory experiences, creating an imaginary universe, in which we are able to lose ourselves in our own daydreams.
Within the plane of the black and white photos you are able to experiment with the quest in which everything becomes both subject and object, the opaque light that deforms and the temperature that shelters or stiffens. In the post-modernity of liquid talks we are able to understand that the non-centrality is the expression. The swinging, the daydream of freedom are aqueous. We momentarily observe the world, then, return to the sensations of the formless body.
about the photographer
Benoît Fournier was born in 1981 in Carpentras, France. He holds an MBA in international management, with specialization in Latin America (IAE, Bayonne – France/PUC- Curitiba). To further his education he lived in Mexico and in Spain, and in 2006 he came to Rio de Janeiro where he decided to live. He took up photography when he was 20, with the encouragement of his father, a journalist, who gave him his first camera. He worked in the documentary and commercial fields of photography from 2008 to 2012. He now focuses on authorial work, using water as a guiding principle: the ocean, rivers, water with different colors, temperature and textures.In 2014 he launched his first book of photography, "A City of Bandeira" (published by Batel), which expresses the appreciation that 'Cariocas' have for Rio's nature. The pictures are accompanied by passages from one of the greatest poets of the Portuguese language - Manuel Bandeira.
In 2013 he won the Prix Photo Web, 1st place, a competition promoted by the Aliança Francesa. He has participated in individual exhibitions such as FotoRio in 2009, and collectives at the Tiradentes Festival in 2013 and shows at the Ateliê da Imagem (Rio de Janeiro).
He took part in art workshops held at the Parque Laje School of Visual Arts (Rio de Janeiro), and is now taking part in a study on the visual artist Marcos Bonisson.
back to gallery